


What's with Umbara these days?

by Hatless_Hatter



Category: Star Wars Legends: Knights of the Old Republic (Comic), Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic, Star Wars the Old Republic - Fandom
Genre: 5.4 spoilers, AGH, F/M, Family Drama, I have a case of the sads™, So much history and doubt, i wrote this at 4 am, it probably shows, relationship drama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-12-20 13:01:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11921451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hatless_Hatter/pseuds/Hatless_Hatter
Summary: *spoilers for 5.4* I read the data mine and it still wasn't easy. My girls was so in love and happy AND NOW THIS. SHE SAD. SHE VERY SAD.Taking place after the train of doom, Tela-Nati, former Darth Imperius and current leader of the Eternal Alliance, fights through Umbara with the hope of stopping Theron from fleeing. A few memories take center stage.





	What's with Umbara these days?

**Author's Note:**

> Quick note: Lillian is Tela-Nati's daughter as a surrogate for Lord Cytharat and his husband. (not sure if I killed them or not but she's on Odessen)  
> Theron and tela have been together since Rishi, and are two very emotionally compromised people.

_I thought you loved me._

Her arms ached and stung. Her chest screamed for true air, not the putrid version of Umbara. Her legs wanted to stop, but she pressed on, feeling her old training slipping back into place.

 _“Through passion, I gain_ strength _. I have taught you well, child.”_ Thanaton's voice hummed through her mind, snide and yet still oddly paternal.

 _“You taught me_ nothing, _old man. You murdered my mother,_ **that** , _is why I am here.”_  

 

 _He said he_ **_loved_ ** _me… then he tried to murder me with a train._

The Umbaran soldiers cried out in anger as they attacked, crying out in pain as they were killed by Lana and the commander.

_He stunned Lana. He missed three times. He's a sharpshooter, not an drunken pistoleer._

Rage and anguish thrilled through her body as she climbed higher towards the man who had betrayed her twice.

_Twice for certain? Iokath was different. He wasn't alone. Lana knew where he was the entire time after Acina died._

She knew she was bleeding, could feel the blood drying on her cheek and neck.

_Focus, Tela-Nati. Get to him. Talk to him. Slap him once or twice._

She wasn't severely wounded, and the force flowed through her body, healing her scrapes and burns. Her body would be fine, but as she allowed the force to move with her, she felt herself change.

 _“Now my_ wonderful _apprentice, I have a new job for you. Tell me, what do you know of the Ancient Sith?”_

She knew her eyes had changed by now, were glowing yellow with her disbelief and horror. She couldn't look at her hands, knowing they had long since turned black up to her elbows, veins turning black as well, snaking visibly up her arms and through her entire body.

It bothered her that her true power disfigured her, as if having the darkness of the force at your beck and call was something you could control. The lightning she wielded was no more evil than her intentions, but it seemed she would forever be forced to cover herself after fighting for her life.

 

_Brave, kind Ashara... eyes, wide with fear as her hands twitched towards her twin lightsabers. Her Presence trembling with terror._

_"It's scary watching you fight. You change. Physically. I know that everything you've done is who you are, but it is scary to watch you turn into a typical Sith.”_

She screamed as she tore apart a Shadow, bits and pieces of the woman flying in every direction. She was covered in blood, and she didn't care. She needed to get to him. She needed to… hurt him? Kiss him? Beg him to stop?

 _“Your allies_ **_will_ ** _fail you. You will be alone again. Accept my help. We will bring them to their knees.”_

Lana was at her side as she retched, what little food she’d had falling onto the unfamiliar soil of the Midnight World.

Valkorion was gone, but he still weighed on her mind. How much had he known? Was he actually dead?

“Keep with it, Tela.” Lana pressed, rubbing her friend's back lightly, but still obviously irritated they had paused.

“I _am_ , Lana. I'll explain later.” The commander hissed, standing up again and running after her lover, hoping against everything she knew about him that he would wait and listen.

She needn't have bothered, he had climbed into the shuttle and told her this was just the beginning before sending a _tank_ after her.

When it was all over, she collapsed onto the bloodied ground, knees to her chest and just… breathed.

She closed her eyes, focused her sight inward, and tried to force the darkness back into hiding. She knew she looked ghoulish, and she _hated it._ Everytime she had to fight this hard, she had to remember _why_ she knew to fight like this.

 _Slave. Wretch. Fool. Pawn. Puppet. Abomination. Child. Accident. Hypocrite. Lord. Idiot. Darth. Murderer. Ally. Ghost. Outlander. Commander. Naive. Weak. Usurper._ ** _Traitor._** **_Ally. Naive. Weakweakweak. FOOL._**

Her force flew out from her, blue lightning arcing dangerously near the leftover explosives.

_“Let me dispose of this slave quickly and then we shall have order once more.”_

_“My_ Apprentice, _I am in your debt for ridding this body of that monster.”_

_“The downfall of the ambitious is their over confidence. Kneel as you are meant to.”_

A scream of anguished rage left her lungs as Lana dove for cover, hiding from her friend's blind lashing.

She didn't form words. She couldn't. She didn't have to.

 _Make it stop. It hurts. I was a fool. He was a_ **_spy._ ** _Marr was right. It was fun while it lasted, but it wasn't meant to last forever._

 

_His hands through her hair, massaging her temples as if she had asked him specifically to do so. His soft kisses down her back as he helped remove her armor and clothes, uncaring of how sweaty she was._

A sob escaped her mouth before a howl of regret pulled at her, begging to be released.

_His hands holding Lillian's as she pulled him onto the dance floor, nothing but smiles and knowing he was doomed. Him reading to Lilly as she insisted she wasn't tired. Him asleep on the couch with Lilly curled up on his lap._

The ground around her rumbled and cracked, unable to withstand the force she was exerting.

**_Enough._ **

The force withdrew back to its master, an eerily quiet soundscape surrounding her.

“Tela,” Lana whispered, daring to rest a hand on her friend's shoulder.

“I… we…”

Tela glared tearily up at her advisor, lips quivering.

Lana Beniko embraced her distraught commander and let her weep into her shoulder, holding tight and rubbing her back.

Tela whispered something in her native Zabrak tongue and Lana could tell it was a curse. Against whom, she couldn't tell.

A shuttle arrived with Mirantiva aboard, who sped immediately to her sister's side, holding her in a tight embrace.

No one spoke on the way back to Odessen. No one knew _what to say._ They had all trusted him. He built the alliance. He was supposed to be a leader and defender, but now he had tried to kill the commander, _his lover_ , three times by his own confession.

 

Tela was lead off the shuttle by Mira, a gentle but firm hand leading her past the sympathetic eyes and concerned glances.

“I'm fine.” Tela said once, not bothering to fight her sister's unyielding guidance.

“And I'm a Jedi. Sit.” Her accent, so similar to Major Pierce's, was little comfort. She'd already sided with the republic against 'her own people’. She didn't need anyone to point out that even when you side with Theron Shan’s former faction, he _still_ betrayed you.

“Your vitals would be fine if you were in cardiac arrest. Your blood pressure is worrying me, and… you have two more hearts than normal.”

Tela looked her sister in the eye and fought the urge to weep.

“Oh my God…” Mira breathed, horrified, wrapping her arms around her sister's shaking frame.

“It'll be okay. I promise. I'll tell the Hutt, and we'll keep this between us. No one will know unless you want them to…” Mira looked past her sister's shoulder blindly for a moment, gathering her thoughts.

“H-he doesn't know… oh my God. Tela…”

The commander nodded and dropped her head into her hands, twining her fingers into her hair.

 

Two days passed as Tela calmed down privately, preparing a statement she was going to read to the Galaxy.

“I'm ready, Lana.” Tela-Nati stated, rolling her neck side to side.

“Alright, the channel is open.”

Tela stood up straight, hands on her hips as she spoke directly to Theron Shan. The man she had trusted with her life. With her daughter's life. With her sister's life. With the safety of the damn galaxy.

“This is the Commander of the Eternal Alliance. I am sending this message to my old friend Theron Shan.” She felt her sister switch her weight around, not so silently judging her.

“We have been through quite a lot together, Theron. After everything, I know you want peace as much as I do. Whatever has broken your faith in what you helped create, we can only fix it together.

“I still believe the Alliance can help end the cycle of war and death, but we need everyone committed to the same cause. I am not giving up on what you and I started. Please, come home. We need to understand why you did this.”

The holofeed disconnected and Lana sighed, exhaustion and loss in every aspect of her appearance.

Mira snorted quietly, shaking her head.

“I see you ignored my revisions.”

“I'm not placing a billion credit bounty on him. I need him alive to understand why he did all this.” She paused, considering her next statement. Mira could be trusted with everything, given the force bond that let them communicate nearly telepathically. Lana was still an unfortunate question.

“Theron said he was responsible for Iokath. Luring us there. Nearly killing me. All of it.”

Lana jolted forward, face shocked.

“What?” Lana hissed, hands in fists.

“That makes no sense. He lured his own father into a potentially lethal trap? What if you had sided with the Sith Empire? What if you hadn't sided with anyone and just let them fight it out and deal with the decimated victor?”

Tela-Nati shrugged, wincing at the pain in her shoulder.

“I have those same questions. He had no guarantee I would side with the republic. None of it makes sense.”

Mira growled from her new position at Lana's side, hands gripping tightly to her lover's hand.

 _Can we tell Lana?_ Mira questioned through the force bond, head resting on Lana's shoulder.

“... Theron didn't know I was six weeks pregnant. I wonder if that would have changed anything…”

Lana looked appalled.

“Tela… I'm so sorry. Are you…?”

Tela waved her concerns away, rubbing her temples as a stress headache came on.

“I'm fine. As is the fetus. My outburst didn't cause any harm, and neither did the almost dying part.”

Lana rushed over to her friend and embraced her, pouring as much love and protective nature into her force presence as she possibly could.

“We'll find him. Damnit he _will answer our questions.”_

 

Tela hiccuped slightly as the ghastly concoction the Hutt had created settled in her stomach.

_Keep the fetus healthy because you're such a danger magnet._

Her datapad chimed and she picked it up, Bey'wan Aygo's letter telling her she didn't have to worry about his men’s loyalty. It was nice to know not everyone was lying to her. Bey'wan was a Republic man through and through, as long as the republic was an ally, she would never have to worry.

Arcann's letter was a little concerning. He referred to himself as a weapon. She really needed to talk to him and Senya.

A third chime had Tela gripping her datapad with white knuckles.

_I love you._

_I saw your message on the Holo. I wish I could just drop everything and leave, take you and Lillian away from the constant war and death… but that's a fantasy._

_I finally know how to stop the endless bloodshed. I know you won't believe me, but what I'm doing is for the best._

_For you and Lillian._

_No matter what happens, know that I loved you from the moment I saw you._

 

“Mom?” A tiny voice asked from the doorway, a crimson face peeking in at her mother.

“Are you okay? You feel sad.”

Tela tried to hide her tears, but as her daughter crawled into bed with her, curling up at her side, Tela couldn't keep the tears in her eyes as her daughter asked a very simple question.

“When's Papa coming home?”

**Author's Note:**

> So I changed The "typical sith" memory to be a bit more significant to the speaking character.  
> Cheers for first edits since posting at 5am!  
> *Paper horn sounds*


End file.
